Opinion
CASE NO. 05-73817.
August 2, 2007
ORDER
Plaintiff Bobby Jean Bowles ("Plaintiff") filed this action on October 5, 2005, against numerous defendants. Since that time, Plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed several defendants. Indeed, the docket currently reflects that the only remaining defendant in this action is Educational Funding Company, L.L.C. ("EFC").
On December 22, 2005, Mark Cokinos ("Cokinos"), Vice President of EFC, filed an Answer to Plaintiff's Complaint on behalf of EFC [Docket Entry No. 82]. That Answer identifies Cokinos as an officer of EFC and does not indicate that he is an attorney.
It is well established that a corporation cannot appear in federal court except through an attorney. Doherty v. American Motors Corp., 728 F.2d 334, 340 (6th Cir. 1984). An officer of a corporation, who is not licensed to practice law, is not permitted to appear in federal court on behalf of his organization as its legal representative. Ginger v. Cohn, 426 F.2d 1385, 1386 (6th Cir. 1970). Federal courts have applied these general rules to all forms of business entities. See e.g., Gilley v. Shoffner, 345 F.Supp.2d 563 (M.D. N.C. 2004). Accordingly, Cokinos cannot represent EFC in this matter.
The Court therefore STRIKES the December 22, 2005 Answer filed by Cokinos on behalf of EFC [Docket Entry No. 82] and ORDERS that EFC must obtain counsel in this matter no later than August 17, 2007. Such counsel shall file an appearance no later than August 18, 2007, and shall file an Answer on behalf of EFC no later than August 31, 2007. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Final Pretrial Conference in this matter shall be held on September 18, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. The main focus of the Final Pretrial Conference will be on settlement. Counsel must bring their clients and any persons with full settlement authority with them to the conference. A proposedJoint Pretrial Statement signed by counsel for all parties, shall be filed with the Court one week prior to the Final Pretrial Conference.